The Lighter Side of Technology

Today Microsoft released a new version of its Office Suite 2013 for Windows. But the most notable feature call Office 365, which is a new way to license the suite and to extend the software to the use of cloud storage SkyDrive.

Starting today users can optionally subscribe (yes, subscribe) to Office 365 Home Premium for $99/year. This license allows users to download and to use the suite up to 5 different devices including Windows PC or Mac. The Mac version is still MS Office 2011, where the Windows platform has the latest 2013 version of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher and Access.

Other versions include Office 365 University, which costs $80 for a 4-year subscription, is available for college students, faculty and staff. Office 365 for businesses will be released on Feb. 27; subscription rates will range from $4 to $20 monthly.

In addition, each user can get 20GB of free cloud storage on Microsoft SkyDrive to store, share the documents on the Web.

If you like the tradition DVD version, the new Office comes in Office Home and Student 2013 ($140), Office Home and Business 2013 ($220) and Office Professional 2013 ($400). Note that the DVD version can only be installed on one or two PCs.

Microsoft redesigned the new Office 2013 with Touch and Modern UI in mind, however all the software works in both touch and mouse/keyboard.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Congress this morning, as talks continue in Geneva on an Iran Nuclear deal. Netanyahu warned against the negotiations, saying "I can only urge the leaders of the world not to repeat the mistakes of the past." He added, "To defeat ISIS and let Iran get nuclear weapons would be to win the battle, but lose the war." Netanyahu was invited to speak to Congress by the Republican Speaker of the House, John Boehner, who didn't inform the White House. "My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama or the esteemed office which he holds," Netanyahu said yesterday.

Look closely at the above portrait of Bill Clinton. Specifically, look between the fireplace and the plant, exactly where Bill Clinton’s hand is pointing and Hillary Clinton’s gaze is staring. What you should see is the shadow of a dress, not white and gold, but just plain blue. The artist behind Bill Clinton’s National Portrait Gallery painting says he snuck a reference to Monica Lewinsky’s infamous stained blue dress into the former president’s official portrait.

The painter, Nelson Shanks, told the Philadelphia Daily News that he intentionally placed a shadow from a blue dress that was meant to represent Lewinsky’s into the painting.

Graphene targets cancer stem cellshttp://goo.gl/sddFzr Scientists have used graphene to target and neutralize cancer stem cells while not harming other cells. Using graphene oxide, in modified form of graphene, acts as an anti-cancer agent that selectively targets cancer stem cells (CSCs). In combination with existing treatments, this could eventually lead to tumor shrinkage as well as preventing the spread of cancer and its recurrence after treatment. However, more pre-clinical studies and extensive clinical trials will be necessary to move this forward into the clinic to ensure patient benefit.

Spacewalk Trilogy Complete! NASA astronauts Terry Virts and Barry Wilmore (in this photo) ended their spacewalk at 12:30 p.m. EST today. Virts and Wilmore completed installing 400 feet of cable and several antennas associated with the Common Communications for Visiting Vehicles system known as C2V2. Boeing's Crew Transportation System (CST)-100 and the SpaceX Crew Dragon will use the system in the coming years to rendezvous with the orbital laboratory and deliver crews to the space station. They completed one additional task to retrieve a bag to cover equipment on the outside of the station.

Check out how much each member of NATO spent on its military last year. United States' share is huge. In 2014, the US spent about $582 billion on military expenditure, almost three times more than all the other NATO states combined. Britain captured the second largest share with $55 billion invested in its armed forces. However, this is less than a tenth of what the US spent. Not all NATO members spent the same percentage of GDP on its military. Germany's $44.30 billion expenditure represents just 1.15% of its GDP, while Estonia's $430 million invested in its military accounted for around 2% of its GDP in 2014.